278
Recorded events
24
Direct deaths
15
Direct injuries
$32.0M
Property damage
Flash Flood in Coconino County, Arizona: 278 recorded events between 1997 and 2025. The strongest on record measured 5. That places the county #16 nationally and #5 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Flash Flood in Coconino County, Arizona: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for flash flood in Coconino County is the 2020s, when 122 of the county's 278 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Coconino County archive, flash flood makes up 35.6% of all recorded severe weather across 11 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #16 for this hazard and #5 within Arizona, putting it in the 99.5 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Jul is the peak month for flash flood in Coconino County with 111 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 12, 1997 | PAGE | 0 | 11 | 1 | $0 |
| Aug 11, 2001 | SUPAI | 0 | 3 | 0 | $0 |
| Sep 11, 1997 | GRAND CANYON ARPT | 0 | 2 | 1 | $0 |
| Aug 7, 2001 | THE GAP | 0 | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 15, 2021 | NORTH RIM | 0 | 1 | 4 | $0 |
| Aug 22, 2024 | HAVASUPAI | 0 | 1 | 0 | $1.0M |
| Jul 31, 2021 | (PGA)PAGE ARPT | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
| Jul 26, 2021 | EAST RED LAKE | 0 | 1 | 0 | $0 |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 11, 2025 | MOENKOPI | 0 | $0 |
| Oct 10, 2025 | MOQUI | 0 | $0 |
| Oct 9, 2025 | (PGA)PAGE ARPT | 0 | $0 |
| Oct 9, 2025 | (PGA)PAGE ARPT | 0 | $0 |
| Sep 27, 2025 | HAVASUPAI | 0 | $0 |
| Sep 5, 2025 | HAVASUPAI | 0 | $0 |
| Sep 5, 2025 | NORTH RIM | 0 | $0 |
| Aug 27, 2025 | JACOB LAKE | 0 | $0 |
| Aug 27, 2025 | MARBLE CANYON | 0 | $0 |
| Aug 25, 2025 | (PGA)PAGE ARPT | 0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Coconino County
- Hail 177
- Heavy Rain 105
- Thunderstorm Wind 51
- Tornado 48
- Flood 47
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
Eleven hikers and tourists were drowned by a flash flood in a narrow slot canyon 5 miles southeast of Page. A severe thunderstorm 3 to 5 miles upstream produced very heavy rain causing a 10-30 foot wall of water to crash down Antelope Canyon. In the area of the flood fatalities the depth and width of Antelope Canyon varies from about 20 feet across and 30 feet deep to points where it is 200 feet deep but only two (2) feet across. It is a popular site for hiking and photography where access is via rope ladders controlled by Navajo Nation representatives. The eleven who died and a tour guide were warned not to enter the canyon because of the flood potential from an approaching thunderstorm. The tour guide alone survived after being carried several miles downstream by the flood.
Two people died while hiking in a slot canyon when a flash flood washed them down stream. The two were long overdue from a hiking trip when searchers began looking for them. The last entry in a personal journal, dated August 7, indicated that they were going to hike up a slot canyon 16 miles southwest of The Gap. The canyon is marked by steep cliff walls that offer no escape to higher ground in the event of a flash flood. Their bodies were found over 16 days later.
A Flash Flood on Phantom Creek killed two people and injured a third person. Runoff from the heavy rain associated with a thunderstorm several miles north of the flash flood site caught the three people as they were crossing Phantom Creek. All three attempted to save themselves by crouching behind a large boulder, but chest-deep water carried them downstream. The bodies of the two who were killed were found several weeks later, miles downstream in the Colorado River. The survivor was carried one quarter mile down Phantom Creek then another quarter mile down Bright Angel Creek before he was able to escape and hike out of the canyon.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many flash flood events are on record in Coconino County, Arizona?
278 flash flood events are recorded in Coconino County between 1997 and 2025, causing 24 direct deaths.
What is the strongest flash flood recorded in Coconino County?
The strongest flash flood on record in Coconino County measured 5.
Where does the flash flood data for Coconino County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Flash Flood in Coconino County, Arizona.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/arizona/coconino-county/flash-flood/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.